Velmaneth
Velmaneth is the world which the Heart of Pargon LARP system takes place on. It was created by the goddess Eremine at the dawn of time. Creation Eremine created the jewel, which was the basis for her new world. With the creation of her four children, new features were added to the jewel - oceans, land, sky, and eventually life. All of the Gods created at the birth of the world have since fallen, annihilated by a Celestial being named Krein, or absorbed into new entities. The Making of Velmaneth and the Old Gods In the Beginning… Was the void, a great endless grey mist, perfect, tranquil and eternal. It was not ‘nothing’ in the conventional word: not an absence of anything in particular but instead an infinite force of nothingness. Eremine From the void came Eremine, Goddess of all that exists. She opened her eyes for the first time and within them all of time and space could be seen. She inhaled and in that first breath she drew some of the mists of the void into herself leaving behind a vast inky blackness, a canvas for her to paint her creation. Stars flowed from her fingertips, littering the pitch black of the void with shining diamonds of light. Eremine concentrated, her ageless brow furrowing and exhaled into her hands, the mists coalescing into a shining jewel, a thousand miles wide. It glowed purple and pulsed with power and darkness but at the same time light and joy for Eremine knew that only the balance of light and dark, good and evil can all things thrive. She named this great jewel Velmaneth and it was this first creation that was to be her focus, her life, her goal. Within the void this jewel would exist alone, darkly beautiful, brimming with energy and life. She smiled at her creation and from this smile spilt a brilliant light that danced around her creation and through the void. From this light she formed four moons and the sun to hold her brilliance eternally. Gerethenax Each of these moons was one of her children, four sons, four aspects of her creation and each sought their mother’s approval. The first she named Gerethanax, God of the Earth. He looked upon Velmaneth before reaching forward and taking the jewel in his great hands. Withdrawing once more he left behind a piece of himself for the jewel was now coated in layers of earth, rock and mud, with precious stones and seams of metal running through it. The power of the jewel contained within its earthen encasement, Gerethanax formed mountains and volcanoes as vents for the energy boiling beneath the surface. Great valleys were created also: vast areas where the crust of the world was thin and the power of the jewel could reach forth into the void. Lavelas Eremine named her second son Lavelas, deity of water. From his great blue moon, he passed his hands across the surface of the new world leaving behind the great seas and oceans, breaking up the land with rivers that flowed from the highest peaks to the lowest valleys. Eremethal Eremethal, God of the Air came next, drawing water from the seas to form rain, hail and snow. The god swirled across the world forming clouds, mists and wind. Snow feel on mountain tops, rain lashed the plains and lighting struck the earth briefly illuminating the world. Lenamo Finally came the greatest of the moon gods, Lenamo, bringing with him Life to the world. From atop his own globe in the heavens he reached out and covered the earth of Gerethanax with grass, trees and all manner of plant life. The greatest of these were the majestic Boltab trees, imbued with the power of life and death which stretched into the skies now filled with the mists and clouds of Eremethal. Oak and ash, willow and birch grew alongside them but the Boltab towered above all others, bark black as the night with leaves as white and pure as the driven snow. Next he created the animals, many thousands of species each unique in their own way. The birds soared through the skies, the fish glided through the water and the wolves hunted the forests. With his final act he created the sentient races. The Humans, adaptable but short-lived, their lives like the striking of a match: brief yet vivid. The Elves, immortal, fair and wise. The Dwarves, sturdy and tough, long lived and skilled. The Orcs and Goblins, black skinned and clever and with them came all manner of other races, too numerous to name. The races of Velmaneth bathed in the glory and beauty of the darkness of the endless night, glorifying the stars, marvelling at the moons and clouds and rains. Velnashar Then came a great light, a shining ball of fire rose over the lands, chasing away the darkness but leaving behind fire and shadow. The Orcs were the first to realise that the sun brought chaos, so despised by this lawful and noble people, and withdrew from the light seeking refuge in the caves beneath the mountains of Noore I’Meles. Their Goblin cousins joined them, fleeing from the light into the cool darkness which hid their nefarious deeds. There they would remain, forever mistrusting the sun which had banished the darkness they so revered. The other races remained and watched as the clouds drew away and the sun blinded their vision. With shielded eyes they watched as the moons seemed to scatter and fade away for here was Eremine’s final creation and greatest son, Velnashar, God of Destruction. As his brothers had done, Velnashar reached forward greedily towards the jewel but before he could act, Eremine spoke. She spoke the only words she ever has and ever will until the very end of creation. “My son, you exist to bring balance to the world but what gift can you give which will not destroy this balance? For should it be disrupted all of creation will come to an end.” Velnashar smiled and replied, “My mother, my creator, I give them free will, the choice to do what they wish with their lives. By the light of my day they shall create more destruction than I could even imagine and it will all be by their own hand.” Eremine merely smiled and sank into the jewel she had created, forever becoming part of her own most prized creation. Her five sons receded into their own lights, their work complete, and left the world to become what it would become. Yashmanar Who knows what the sentient life-forms would have done had they simply been left alone with Velnashar’s ‘gift’, however, knowing the danger they now posed to each other, Lenamo created Yashmanar God of Knowledge. This new deity instilled in the minds of all sentient creatures a great knowledge and understanding of the world, its workings and where they had come from. Most importantly he granted them knowledge of the consequences of their actions so that despite having free will, chaos would not reign across the world. On the day of Eremine’s departure all the races under the sun came together of their own free will. They gathered in an area where the crust was thinnest, an area that would later become known as the Heartlands and great councils they held. Together they decided to build a great city, dedicated to Eremine, their Goddess and creator. Over the next five years they dug a great well that travelled so deep that it reached into the jewel, the Heart of Eremine itself and around this well arose the Temple of Eremine. Over the next hundred years people of all the races, save the Blackskins, came forth and built a magnificent city of marble: Dvarni. Asternia The creation of Yashmanar angered Velnashar and seeing all the peoples of the world cooperating to build a great monument to the Goddess of Creation filled him with rage. Each morning the heat of the burning sun would sear the lands Grethanax had created, chase the clouds of Eremethal away, boil the seas of Lavelas and shrivel and scorch the life Lenamo had granted. But each night the moon gods would put right everything Velnashar had done. This continued for many days until Eremine intervened. One morning, when Velnashar rose, he found a beautiful goddess dancing before him. She shone with golden light, as bright as his own, but Velnashar felt no burning heat from her, only purity. This was Asternia, Eremine’s own daughter who she gifted to the world in order to forever dance around Velnashar absorbing his most destructive, burning heat and only allow light and warmth to reach Velmaneth. Velnashar was enraged and tried to destroy his sister but the more he tried to incinerate her with his heat and flame, the more power she drew from it. Unable to destroy her, instead Velnashar sought another target. Before receding once more he lashed out at the God of Water, wounding him greatly with the power of fire. Aware of the danger he was in, Lavelas sunk into the ocean deep beneath the lands of the Frozen North where he would remain forever hidden from Velnashar. Larweyella When the well of Eremine finally broke through, those who dug felt nothing of the consequences. However, several thousand miles away the Jewel lashed out. On the other side of the world a spike of pure magic pierced the crust of the world dragging with it a huge landmass that rose above the surface of the ocean. A mountain of glistening dark purple crystal, that would one day be known as Velmaneth’s Sting, punctured the new land like a dagger. Eremine, wounded and in pain, exposed to the elements for the first time called forth a new god to watch over these lands and regulate the magic that flowed from the sting and so was born Onlurin, God of Magic. Within moments Onlurin was visited by a messenger, a dark and shadowy twin of Asternia who called herself Larweyella, Goddess of Shadow and War, Mistress of Velnashar. She declared that her lover had sent her to claim these new lands in the name of Chaos. With this she gestured to the glistening mountain before her and as darkness flowed from within, creatures of magic were brought forth from the Hope Wastes. The demons spread over the land, corrupting everything in their wake. To protect the rest of the world, Onlurin used his power over them (for they were still creatures of magic) to bind them to the lands they inhabited, never to leave its boundaries. The creation of such creatures enraged Lenamo and the God of Life descended in fury from the heavens, bearing the great sword Nature’s Wrath. He came upon Larweyella who bore the Sword of Velnashar and the two deities fought in the skies above the new land wounding each other with sword and spell. So potent was the blood of Lenamo that each time a single drop hit the soil of Serke Kemi, a new life sprung forth. And so were created the Serkanians, the humans of the blood, born of life and war. For a decade the Gods of Life and War battled until finally Larweyella was defeated, returning to the side of her lover. Yet it remained too late to undo the disaster she had created. Lenamo created new life on the island, the Kami who would guide the Serkanians towards their desiny: the destiny to free the island from the demons who inhabited it. The wait would be long and the fighting harsh but the God of Life prophesised that one day they would be free. Quarin and Firin In the beginning Lenamo was not only the God of Life but also the God of Death. This was his curse for the gift he had given the world was not eternal like earth or air or water, it was transient and fleeting. Much like fire, it could be extinguished in seconds and, like fire, it could be created by mortals. In these early days, Lenamo’s church worshipped the balance of Life and Death. They venerated the great Boltab trees for although highly poisonous, those with great knowledge could distil healing potions from their leaves. However, while Lenamo was distracted fighting Larweyella, Velnashar began to sow the seeds of chaos and corruption within his church. Surreptitiously he would whisper in the ears of Lenamo’s celebrants, persuading many that they should abhor death and try to stave it off while muttering to others that they should embrace death and the journey that lay before them. It didn’t happen immediately, but over the coming months the church of Lenamo became fractured into three distinct groups: those who worshipped life, those that worshipped death and those who tried to maintain the balance. Despite his loss of Serke Kemi, Velnashar was pleased. Despite his victory, Lenamo was not. Firin The damage done, the church in disarray, all Lenamo could do was what he did best. He created new life and so was born Firin, Goddess of Death. He retained the followers who worshipped Life and gifted to her those who followed his classic portfolio, the circle of life and the balance of death. Despite a general view within the new religion that life was fleeting perhaps even pointless in comparison to the eternity of death, the church would always remember where it came from and its members were instilled with an understanding that life needs death and death needs life. Firin’s worshippers strongly believe that every creature has a right to life and a right to death and it is perhaps not unsurprising that this belief has lead to the church’s hatred of undead as it goes against their mantra “The final truth will engulf us all”. Quarin We must not forget the third faction of Lenamo’s followers, those who had turned their backs on Life entirely and now worshipped Death, Velnashar certainly had not. He greeted Larweyella, fresh from her defeat at Serke Kemi, and their union created a new god for these followers who would forever be known as Lenamo’s Lost. And so, born from War and Destruction, came Quarin. Quarin would come to represent death for the sake of death, followed by those who wallow in departing the lives of others and who relish the killing of those whose time is not yet upon them. However, despite appearances to the contrary, Quarin’s followers do not cause pain and suffering for the sake of it, merely as a means to an end, as a method to bring about death. Life to them is not a gift merely a way of staving off the inevitable and they see little point in prolonging the suffering that life brings. They take it upon themselves to suffer the burden of life so that they can fulfil this sacred mission, though they embrace the opportunities undeath offers. Dakron However, by this time, there was already a deity of death, though so shrouded in secrecy even the gods did not know it. Shade was one of the first Serkanians (literally: humans of the blood) and founder of The Shaded Blade, one of the four Serkanian orders. His closest friend and second in command was a fellow Serkanian named Dakron. From their creation, the pair fought against the demons that ravaged the island but Dakron, unwilling to be second in command forever, had secretly formed his own order, the Silent Blade with a very different agenda and code of honour. When the two were not fighting side by side, they split up in order to lead their forces elsewhere. However, Dakron secretly left the island and spent a year journeying across the world in order to learn the secrets to ultimate power. After undergoing several rituals, the details of which have fortunately been lost to time, Dakron returned to the place of his birth in order to carry out the final act and commit the original sin, the first murder to occur on Velmaneth. One night, unobserved to anyone, Dakron murdered his best friend Shade and rose to become God of Murder. Raime It will probably surprise many people to learn that Raime was once a human of a tribe known as the Arnad who were much like the Everni. When the world was very young he saved the life of a young woman who had been blessed by Eremine with the power to anoint a group of individuals who would become known as the Sentinels. In thanks for his courage and quick actions she named him The Hunter, sentinel of Arnad and Guarhoth. Guarhoth was a word used by the Arnad to refer to the predators that roamed the land, giant cats, wolves, bears and the like. These animals were just beasts, acting on instinct rather than with cognitive thought, for in the early years of the world there were no beastmen. Raime led his people well but he had been named sentinel of both the Arnad and the Guarhoth and had no idea how to fulfil this destiny. One night he asked the gods for answers and Yashmanar heard his prayer and answered him. Yashmanar instilled within Raime the power he had given the world in the beginning: the power of knowledge and understanding. Raime spent the next few years of his life hunting and catching all manner of animals from wolves and bears to great cats. When he had caught them he would share his blood with them and the animal would warp and change, becoming what we now recognise as a Canine, Feline or other beastman. However this came at a great price for every beastman he created took away a tiny piece of his own humanity, making him more and more wild. No one knows what happened to the mortal Raime, most believe that one day he lost his humanity entirely and spent the rest of his days wandering the forests of Arnad Guarhoth as an animal. However, his spirit ascended to godhood through the beastmen who spoke of him as their creator and every person who called upon a higher power to watch over them as they stalked the undergrowth in search of prey. The followers of The Hunter believe in survival, strength and relying on your own skill and ability. Though they appreciate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction in a quick, clean kill they also understand the balance of the land and that killing for sport isn’t hunting, it’s murder. Their mantra is “a hunter does so to survive, not kill” though they feel no shame in doing so where necessary. Mektar With the rise of Quarin and his Hopeslayers, undead began to appear across Velmaneth, particularly within the area which would become known as Gweria. A noble Larkant by the name of Mektar fought a crusade against them, not for any religious reason but because he felt it was right. He travelled the lands and everywhere he went people rallied to his cause, perhaps the two most famous today were a human called Varya and an Avian named Yinze. This is how the Knights of Mektar were forged along with their belief in strength through justice and honour and their mantra “do what it right, not what is easy” for though some may consider them arrogant, they truly believe what they do is right and would never consciously do anything immoral or ‘wrong’. Mektar fell in battle fighting against overwhelming odds after over twenty years fighting against the forces of undead and scoring countless victories. However, the knights never forgot him or the lessons he taught and so he never truly died, instead ascending to godhood. Originally the knights were charged with protecting Gweria but after the death of Mektar, they began to lose ground. Yinze took the majority of the knights to guard the border between Gweria and Sinya Palurin and Varya took a small number to the far east of Gweria in order to protect the area where he was born. Trivia *Velmaneth was created in the Year 0. *The world is said to be about the size of the Earth's moon. Category:Lore Category:Geography